Middlebury, Connecticut June 20, 2007
You have doubtless heard of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Well, Peachy is going that one better; she is equipped with a Traveling Garden. In the last post you saw a photo of Peachy in camping mode, a picnic table in the foreground with the garden in the process of having a sun bath and a dose of fish emulsion/seaweed fertilizer. The latter chore, you can imagine, is better done outside in the fresh air.
The garden is practical; it is a salad garden, and should also provide extra oxygen to keep the driver extra alert. There are 27 pots of various sizes, all contained in two plastic-lined boxes, which ride in the passenger seat. Crops include 3 varieties of lettuce, rhubarb chard, beet greens, purslane, rose orach, fennel, cilantro, curly and Italian parsley, thyme, lemon thyme, lemon verbena, anise hyssop, arugula, kale, shallots, and nasturtiums. Lots of vitamins, interesting scientific experiment, and Penny likes to mess about with plants and dirt. Already the arugula has bolted and the cilantro wilted, but new seeds will be sown next week.
Collecting water for both the garden and Penny's use is an integral part of the whole pennyspeachydrive Water for Life adventure. Water weighs a bit more than 8 pounds per gallon, and a gallon just suffices to water Peachy's garden once. Penny is using about 2 gallons a day for drinking, cooking, washing dishes, and "cat baths". Together that equals about 25 pounds of water per day - for one person, and that doesn't take into account the flush toilets and showers at the campgrounds. In addition, the distance from the water faucet to the camp site has been only 30 feet, and it is taken for granted that the water is potable.
Imagine carrying enough water to cover all the needs of a family - and having to carry that water a mile or more - all the while knowing that the water may be carrying disease. These are sobering thoughts. Penny is learning a lot, gaining in empathy, and developing muscles from carrying water and climbing into and out of that upper bunk.
That's it for now, Shalom, and I'll be back on Friday, Lord willing and the creek don"t rise.
Coming up: More on the Send -off, and pictures while moving.
No comments:
Post a Comment